


come mourning light

by eggosandxmen



Category: X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Gen, Mentions of Death, Overprotective Noriko and Julian, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 20:56:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18786067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eggosandxmen/pseuds/eggosandxmen
Summary: Laura tells Nori about X-Force.Nori gets very angry, very fast.





	come mourning light

**Author's Note:**

> what if instead of the new x-men abandoning their teammate after they find out she was forced to be on a murder squad they actually did the in-character thing and got angry as hell at their teachers? 
> 
> (title is a play on lyrics from safe and sound by Taylor Swift- the actual line is “come morning light.”)

Nori and Julian sit on the couch, watching cartoons. Julian’s got his legs across Nori’s lap and Nori’s teasing him, shocking him ever so often with the barest hint of her powers, and they’re okay; they’re both okay.

Laura watches. Laura watches, and she gathers her courage, and she speaks up. 

“Noriko?” She asks, and her voice is too flat, too robotic, “I need to speak with you.” 

Nori looks up. Laura can see the roots of her hair fading back to black, can smell that her shirt was stolen from Victor, knows instinctively that Nori’s only pretending to be mad at Julian- her real anger is always brewing, but never at them, not for very long. 

(Julian tells Laura stories, sometimes, about Before the Decimation, when he and Nori were rivals and there were more of them- Laurie Collins, Jay Guthrie, Sofia Mantega, Brian Cruz. Julian tells her that Nori used to really get angry at them. Julian tells her that Nori’s so scared to lose them now she can’t bring herself to be, even though she hides it.)

Nori looks up, and her eyes are bloodshot and wide, as they always are (Josh studies the effect of powers on the body, sometimes- hey, Laura, did you know electricity can make your eyes pop out if delivered at a fast enough frequency? Did you know that Nori has so much electricity coursing through her flesh and bone and blood that she’s essentially on and electric chair at all times? Did you know that Nori’s one of the strongest people we know?)

(Yes, Josh, yes, she does, she does, she does, she knows Nori is stronger than anyone else in the school, she knows she loves her, she knows, she knows).

Nori looks up, and gives her a look that in Nori’s book counts as a smile, and Laura gives her the best she can manage; it’s not hard; her eyes always shine when looking at those she cares for. 

“Alright, Kinney; can we talk here, or?”

Laura shakes her head and Nori sighs, getting up and shoving Julian aside. “Be back in a second, Keller.”

Nori and Laura walk side-by-side through the main hall, under the right staircase, down two doors; Laura steps twice on the fourth floorboard to the left, and a panel opens on the wall in front of them, revealing a small room.

“God, I’m so glad we found the secret passages.”

Nori heads in first and Laura follows, clicking the door shut. It’s warm, cozy, just enough space for the two of them to sit comfortably, side-by-side- neither very comfortable with physical contact, but they sit next to each other anyway.

“How are you doing?” Nori asks, and she sounds genuine, like she actually cares about what Laura’s feeling.

“I am fine, how are you?”

“I’m good,” Nori responds, bumping her shoulder. “How are you _really_?”

“I- not well. I need your help.” Need. She needs something.

“With what?”

“I am- I-” 

(What can she say? What can she say? Nori, I work on a kill squad, Nori, I do not want to anymore, Nori, I cannot tell Logan no and I cannot bring myself to keep saying yes-)

“There is a kill squad,” she says, instead, “There is a kill squad called X-Force, and I am on it.”

Nori, bless her, doesn’t interrupt, just tenses by her side while she waits for Laura to continue.

“I am on X-Force, and I have missions, again, I have missions and- Nori, I do not want them anymore. I do not want to be a weapon anymore.”

Want. She said she wanted something, and Nori isn’t reprimanding her, she’s just angry.  
She is not angry at Laura. Nori turns to Laura, and her eyes are sparking, and Nori grabs her hand and Nori asks, quietly, so quietly, which teacher told her to do it.

Laura replies that Logan gave her a choice, and Nori squeezes her hand and reminds her that Laura listens to Logan. Nori reminds her that Logan knows she listens to Logan and Logan told her to do something and she listened and that is Not Your Fault, Laura, and I Will Take Care of It, Laura.

And then Nori wrenches open the secret door and she tells Laura to go find her ridiculous girlfriends and make out or something; Nori is trying to act like everything is fine, and Laura is worried but Laura does as she is told. Nori and Laura walk to Laura’s room together and Nori tells Cessily in a low voice what had occured and then Nori leaves and Cessily takes Laura in her arms and they both wait for Sooraya, Cessily running her fingers through Laura’s hair and talking to her about things that are clearly meant as a distraction.

Sooraya arrives and the three of them stick together on Laura’s cot as the screaming starts.

It’s clearly Nori, voice cutting through the quiet halls of the school, and it’s clearly directed at the teachers.

Laura wants to go stop her, but Cessily keeps her grip on her and Laura knows this isn’t something Nori wants her to stop from happening, is it?

She stays, instead, where it’s safe.

-

Nori’s shoulders are twitching and she’s talking too fast to really understand, but Julian gets the gist: Laura, kill squad, teachers, rage. 

Julian would- and literally has- follow Nori into hell. How bad could this be?

-

Scott, Logan, and Emma are assembled into the office. Nori and Julian are in front of Scott’s desk (Julian’s more like a backup singer, honestly, but hey, he’s here).

Nori is screaming.

“ _Youmadeherjoinakillsquadandyoumadeherlieaboutithowdareyouhowdareyouwe’renotyoursoldierswe’rekidsLauraisakidhowdareyou-_ ”

Emma is stone-faced. Scott looks lost. Logan is glaring.

Nori pauses for breath and Julian steps up. “You knew she wouldn’t say no! You knew that and you put her there anyway! She can’t be X-23 right now! She can’t be your weapon! We’re not your weapons! We’re fifteen years old and we’ve survived more wars than we can could on one hand, how dare you-”

“I know,” Scott says, and god, the fearless leader looks so worn, so tired, but Julian remembers that he knew and he let it happen anyway and the anger starts fresh again from his gut. 

Nori peels back her lip and Julian moves backward again; and Nori’s terrifying, really, her body shuttling electricity from the entire building until her gauntlets are literally sparking. 

When she stops to take another breath after lasting a solid three minutes, Logan takes the opportunity to respond. “X needs something to focus on. Missions with X-Force can give her that.”

“How do you know?” Julian asks, and Logan turns to glance at him. “How do you know? Did you, oh, I don’t know, ever ask her how you could help?”

“I-”

“Laura’s messed up! Of course she is! But that doesn’t give you and excuse to say _oh, I’m going to put my literal daughter onto a team that exists to commit slaughter and then I’m going to tell her specifically not to tell her friends about it_! You think- you think Laura needs to be X-23 right now, and she doesn’t! Jesus! You need to actually ask her how she’s feeling instead of just assuming and maybe that would get you somewhere!”

Logan glares. “Kid, watch your tone-”

“I’m not a kid! Because in case you haven’t noticed, kids don’t usually have to scream at the people that are supposed to protect them for putting their goddamn pseudo-sister on a _kill squad_ -”

“It’s not that simple-”

“ _Fuck_ you,” Nori spits, and, oh, she’s sparking now. She reaches out and grabs Julian’s hand (metal meets metal and Julian doesn’t feel a rush of static, no electricity burns his skin), “It’s not that simple? She’s fifteen and you can’t keep her safe!”

She turns on her heel and storms out, Julian tugged along with her, sparing a glance back at Emma. She looks angry, cracks of it showing through her cold facade. 

 

He hopes it’s not at them.

-

Nori and Megan sleep in Cessily, Laura, and Sooraya’s room; Julian, Josh, Santo, and Victor sleep next door, the door between the two rooms kept unlocked. At midnight, Laura hoists herself over the sleeping bodies of her family and goes into the hall.

Logan and Scott are there, arguing in hushed tones, and she simply watches them until Logan looks up. 

“X,” he greets. “You told Ashida.”

“Yes,” she responds, walking slowly up to the two men. “I did.”

“You want out?”

“Yes,” she says. “I do.”

Scott exhales through his teeth and Logan throws up his hands. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“I was very scared. I am still very scared.” How to explain it- that Logan is her father, but she is still his clone? That their needs do not match, that Laura is still young and terrified?

How to explain it, that she knows her teammates love her, but she isn’t sure about her father?

With that thought, the door creaks open- Victor, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “Laura,” he groans, “Can you go to bed so I don’t have to worry?”

“You do not need to,” Laura replies, and he rolls his eyes at her. 

“Goodnight, Mr. Summers, Mr. Logan,” Victor says, and there’s barely-kept anger coating his words as he takes Laura’s arm and walks her back to their room, asking her quietly if she’s alright before leaving her to go to the room next door.

Laura lies down next to the others and Megan- always one for cuddling- pulls her into the dog pile the lot of them had made, no one speaking but everyone surely awake.

(No more kill squad.)

(An attempt to be safe, if only for a while.)

“Thank you, Nori,” Laura whispers. 

Nori wraps an arm around Laura’s stomach. “No problem, Laura. That’s why we’re here.”

**Author's Note:**

> god I LOVE THEM!!! They love each other!!!
> 
> Comments make my day!


End file.
